Afterthoughts

It's a spooky season Recommend or Refute.  John breaks down Zach Cregger's new Resident Evil (2026) reboot, Ryan tackles another prolific horror franchise with Witchcraft (1988) , and Dixon discusses the existential dread of Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa (2015) .

Don't google this movie title without additional keywords like "plot", "film" or "netflix". Otherwise you'll just get a hotline number and some consolation. What's spookier in the spooky season than a fever dream trip to visit your current dating partner's parents? Well, there's plenty of existential concepts that Charlie Kaufman wants you to consider. Join Dixon, Ryan, and John as they attempt to...

Welcome to a spooky edition of Recommend or Refute. Ryan tackles another horror franchise with Terrifier (2016) , Dixon reviews a scary twist on Barney and Friends with Casper Kelly's new film Buddy (2026) , and John delves into the existential dread of Charlie Kaufman's  Synecdoche, New York (2008) .

Spooky Season is upon us and Ryan has hand picked a lesser known horror film to share with the crew. The simplistically titled Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) is about exactly what it sounds like, but is there more to it than that? What would compel a studio to name it with such bluntness? What kind of budget does it have? Is it actually scary? Should you add it to your Spooky Season watch lis...

Welcome to another Recommend or Refute episode!  Dixon discusses Jane Schoenbrun's meditative sexual take on horror reboots  Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026) , Ryan breaks down the independent anime film  Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express (2026) , and John delves into his family history with the Dolly Parton classic  The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) .

This week we're discussing the 1976 stone cold classic  Network  written by Paddy Chayefsky, directed by Sidney Lumet, and starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, and Robert Duvall.  Undoubtedly the smartest and funniest dissection of television ever put on film, Network predicted Fox News, MSNBC, Alex Jones, and countless other for-profit programs pretending to be news.  It feels more...

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, Ryan bring his Marvel Movie of the Week™  with Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026),  John brings an ambling, amusing indie feature with  Person to Person (2017) , and Dixon revisits a classic and pivotal Jim Carrey film about the surveillance state and reality tv with The Truman Show (1998).  Who's recommending what? Is anyone refuting? Is anyone abstaining? Gu...

On this episode of Afterthoughts, John brings Dixon and Ryan an overlooked, under-seen period piece romance/thriller with a southern drawl and a Texas attitude --it's Carolina Caroline (2026) !

Cars: They're just like us.  They eat.  They use the bathroom.  They have sex.  They raise children.  Are these anthropomorphized monstrosities born or manufactured?  Why do they never open their doors?  What's inside them?  Why do they consume gasoline through both their gas tanks and their mouths?  Buckle your seatbelt for a hilarious discussion of one of the most unhinged franchises in the hist...

On this episode of Recommend or Refute , John honors the fallen with a tribute watch of Event Horizon for the recently departed Sam Neil, Ryan stumbles upon the filmography of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead with Resolution (2012) , and Dixon gives the masses want they want with his review of Christopher Nolan's  The Odyssey (2026) .

AFTERTHOUGHTS ARE DOING THEIR PART, ARE YOU? Their part being the discussion of a film that was divisive at release, now seen as ever-prescient, action packed, and clearly tongue-in-cheek. Join the crew as they enlist to help fight the misconceptions against Paul Verhoeven's satirical adaptation of a military-strong sci-fi story. That's right, this episode we're talking about  Starship Troopers (1...

We're back with another Recommend or Refute conversation.  John finally decides to watch a good movie and is blown away by Paul Thomas Anderson's epic character piece  The Master (2012) , Ryan goes dumpster diving with Richard Pryor in  The Toy (1982) , and Dixon tackles one of cinema's all-time greats with Orson Welles' debut film  Citizen Kane (1941) .  Pull up a chair, grab a drink, and join us...

On the heels of our Disclosure Day (2026) episode, we're taking another slice of the Spielberg pie as we dissect his Kubrick-inspired sci-fi film  A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) .  Is it an overlooked masterpiece deserving of reassessment, or is it a fractured mess that doesn't quite work?

We're down a host this week, but we threw in an extra movie to make it up to you.  John's in the mood for offbeat indie comedies with  A Different Man (2024) , Aaron Schimberg's dark exploration of identity and disability, and  I Love Boosters (2026) , Boots Riley's surreal exposé of capitalism in the fashion industry.  Dixon's skewing more mainstream with  Toy Story 1-4 (1995-2019) , and the Nico...

It's not often that we bring so many new movies to the podcast for Recommend or Refute or main discussions , but here we are. The new Steven Spielberg film is loose and somehow it's getting positive reviews. Clocking in at almost 2.5 hours, Disclosure Day (2026) is Spielberg's take on what's required to get the truth out into the universe, but is it truly Spielberg's best film in 20 years (accordi...

We have quite a contemporary collection of choices to present on this episode of Recommend or Refute. Ryan decided to conjure up a snakes on a plane by watching last year's Anaconda (2025) as his in-flight feature. Dixon ventured into the directorial debut of liminal space aficionado Kane Parsons as he maps out his thoughts on Backrooms (2026) , and John shares his impressions of Michael Sarnoski'...

You're under podcast arrest! The charge? You know what you did. You tried to skip this episode, that's what you did. Well, you're not getting off that easy. You're now legally obligated to listen to this episode's discussion on The Trial (1962). Upon completion of a listen you will be granted an ostensible acquittal . Upon completion of listening to our backlog of episodes, you'll be granted a def...

It's recommendin' and refutin' time!  Ryan breaks down Don Bluth's animated sci-fi Titan A.E. (2000) , John shines a light on the indie television comedy The Dress Up Gang (2019) , and Dixon turns the clock back 79 years to discuss Orson Welles' film noir classic The Lady from Shanghai (1947) .

If you want to be me, be me.  And if you want to be you, be you.  Cuz there's a million ways to beeeee.  You know that there are.   Oh sorry, I didn't see you there.  I was just singing along to the soulful folk music of Cat Stevens' score to  Harold and Maude (1971) .  Pull up a chair and join John, Ryan, and Dixon as we discuss this darkly comedic meditation on life, death, and finding joy in th...

Dixon's back to discuss the Don Hertzfeldt animated short World of Tomorrow (2015) , John breaks down the animated feature film  Boys Go to Jupiter (2024) , and Ryan recounts his experience watching  The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)  with his family.

Join the Afterthoughts crew as we take a trippy, philosophical, animated journey through time from Adam and Eve to space robots and back again.  Marcell Jankovics' ambitious epic twenty-three years in the making tells the story of man's doomed, repeated attempts to attain meaning and immortality in the face of Lucifer's cunning sabotage.  I bet you've never seen anything quite like this.

Dixon is still abroad, so in this session Ryan and John attempt to keep things on the rails with a standard Recommend or Refute episode. The only problem is Ryan has a penchant for breaking rules and John is a chronic enabler. Guess we'll see what happens as they each navigate bringing two titles to the table.

Look, I know what the episode title says. Dixon's out of town, John and Ryan are off the rails. This is some serious bullshit and we're gonna have to thank you extra for putting up with it, but none of it has anything to do with the pre-9/11 animated film that has been memed into oblivion --so don't even ask! If you really want to know what it's about, I can tell you... lean in close... closer......

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, Dixon continues with his Italy-on-the-mind movie watching recs, Ryan takes the bullet for all of us and talks about the latest Avatar, and John brings two different mainstream touchstones from bygone eras. 

Put on your tinfoil hats, pack your economy size antihistamine topical ointment, and take your emotion-suppressant supplements. The Afterthoughts crew is about to dive head first into the misanthropic honey of Yorgos Lanthimos's Bugonia. Whether you fancy yourself a queen bee or just another worker drone, you owe it to yourself to reflect on the health of the colony --what better way to do that th...